


Regardless of Anything

by CaseyJ0nes



Category: Kuroshitsuji | Black Butler
Genre: F/M, a sort of reveal story, mention of ciel's torture, tct, two ciel theory
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-07-10
Updated: 2016-07-10
Packaged: 2018-07-22 15:17:16
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,034
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7444063
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CaseyJ0nes/pseuds/CaseyJ0nes
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>He had an asthma attack, but... Ciel didn't have asthma? Did he?</p>
            </blockquote>





	Regardless of Anything

The servants stood around their choking master, a puddle of vile on the floor in front of him. Finny attempted to help by patting him on the back. Sebastian seemed to pop out of mid air behind them and briskly walked towards Ciel, scooping him into his arms.

“Mey Rin, call for a doctor immediately. I think he’s having another asthma attack. Bard get some water and bring it to his room.” He directed, and she ran off.

“Asthma? Another?” Finny asked, staring at the pale face of the young lord, leaning onto Sebastian’s shoulder.

“Yes, he suffered a rather horrible one after we attended the circus.” Sebastian started walking towards Ciel’s room, and the two servants left followed after him. “We were caught in the rain the other day, and I thought I had gotten him dry and warm quick enough. It seems not.”

When Ciel was finally laid in his bed, his coughing having calmed, though he looked exhausted. Sebastian had taken off most of his clothes, just leaving him in his shirt and pants and his cotton eyepatch.

Tanaka looked down at him, then turned to Sebastian. “I don’t understand, you said he’s had another attack before this?”

Sebastian nodded. Bard came running in offering the pitcher of water and a glass. “Did you not know he had asthma, Tanaka? I was under the impression that you had been the former butler of this manor.” He took the water and placed it on the bedside table.

“I was. And there were many calls made for asthma, two people in the family had it chronically. But neither of them were Ciel.”

Finny’s eyes widened. “What’dya mean, Mr. Tanaka. Who had it then?”

“Firstly, his mother, Lady Phantomhive,” He paused, staring hard at the young, sleeping child. “The other... was Master Ciel’s brother. His _twin_ brother."

“What are you saying? That he ain’t Ciel? Why would’e take’is brother’s name?” Bard asked.

There was a soft cough, and the looked to see his eye blinking wearily. 

Tanaka stepped forwards, “Would you like some water, Master _Alois_?” He asked, intentionally using the name of the other twin, only to try and prove his theory.

The young lord paused a moment, squinting his eyes to look at Tanaka before nodding his head. The servants all gave shocked expressions, while Sebastian looked on with curiosity.

He drank the water he was offered, then look around the room, “Aunt Ann?” He questioned, coughing again at the effort to speak.

“It’s alright, young master. Just rest.” Tanaka told him, brushing the hair away from his forehead.

When his eyes closed again Tanaka looked towards Sebastian. “Did you know of this?” He questioned.

“I didn’t know the name of the other twin, no, but he had hesitated when telling me his name. I had my suspicions, but it wasn’t my place to ask. If he wanted to parade around as his dead brother who was I to stop him?” He waved the question off. “I'm not entirely sure if your theory is 100 percent accurate, but if you want answers you can ask him when he is well.”

Tanaka nodded, before walking towards the door. “When the doctor arrives I will escort him here.”

 

Lady Elizabeth arrived the next day, smiling when Finny answered the door.

“Good’ay Lady Elizabeth. I’m sorry t’say, but the young master’s sick’n bed. I’m not sure if Mr. Sebastian’s lettin’ him’ave guests right now.”

“Oh, he’s sick? That’s dreadful. What’s wrong? Maybe I could help.” She offered.

Finny looked wearily in the direction the master's room is, before looking back at Elizabeth. Her eyes were wide with worry. “Uhm, he’ad an asthma attack the other day. It was pretty bad.”

He watched her eyes widened for a moment before she became almost expressionless.

“Oh. I see.” All previous worry had left her voice. “I think I’ll just return home, then. Thank you.” She bowed her head before returning out the door.

He watched the carriage take off again and frowned. “Maybe I shouldn’t’ave told’er that…”

 

Ciel remained in bed for the next two days, though Sebastian believed he had been through with his attack long before that. He took all his meals in his room, cancelled any meetings he was meant to have or attend, and refused the company of anyone other than Sebastian.

On the fourth day in bed, Sebastian came to wake him.

“Master, you can’t think to stay in bed the rest of your life, can you?” He asked the lump of blankets that sat in the middle of the bed. “At the very least you should get up and take a bath.”

He received no answer from the young lord and frowned. “You are being unbelievably difficult lately.”

Again he was met with silence.

Sebastian sighed. “Honestly, if you didn’t want to face the reproductions, why did you use your brother’s name?”

At the blankets were thrown aside, and the young Lord sat up, scowling at him.

"Do _not_  accuse me of such things."

“Ah, master, you’re awake,” Sebastian smiled. “Your bath is already prepared if you would follow me. Your morning tea can wait until after.”

Sebastian walked towards the bathroom and it took every ounce of willpower for Ciel to not whip the pitcher of water on his bedside table at the back of his butler’s head.

When Ciel was finally clean and dressed, he followed Sebastian down to the drawing room. He feared he knew why morning tea was being served there, and as he entered his fears were confirmed.

“Lady Elizabeth,” Sebastian greeted. “I shall be right back with your tea.”

He closed the door behind him and left Ciel standing right inside the threshold, staring at Lizzie with apprehension.

“Good morning, Lizzie,” He said.

“Good morning, My Lord.” She replied, turning to look at him rather than out the window at the early-spring day. “So, you’ve been sick?” She asked and he couldn’t read the expression on her face. “With _asthma_.” She said the word slowly, turning back to look out the window.

“It runs in the family; didn’t you know?” He tried to deter the conversation, slowly making his way to the seat across from her and trying to keep an expressionless mask up.

She turned to look at him, a sharp, piercing gaze at first, that slowly melted into one of sadness.

“Why did you lie? Why didn’t you tell anyone? There’s a gravestone with your name on it!” Her mouth closed tightly after yelling, knowing it was unladylike. “You took his name, and I- I just don’t understand why.”

“Lizzie, I’m going to tell you _one_ vital piece of information from when I returned after that month.” He looked at her coldly, his eyes narrowed like she was the one in the wrong.

“ _No one **asked me** for my name.” _

Her eyes widened.

Surely, _someone…_

She thought back to when she had first seen him after that month. It had been a week since his return, but he wasn’t seeing anyone until he was out of the hospital. Everyone had told her that Ciel had been the one to return, and why wouldn’t she believe them? He was so quiet, but she had told herself that he was just reacting to a traumatic experience. He was so small, was he smaller than Ciel had been? She was so much taller when he returned. She had just assumed…

Tears began to form in her eyes, a hand raising to her mouth.

“ _I didn’t_ -” She tried, but she didn’t know what to say so she stayed silent.

“No one thought Alois would be the twin to make it back. Weak, sickly Alois. Ciel was stronger, wasn’t he? Better? Older? How could Alois survive but Ciel couldn’t? They were locked up together, put through the same abuse. Neither of them could do anything to preserve the other’s safety. If one died, one died. It was up to fate to decide and it _did_.” He paused for a moment before continuing.

“Ciel had an asthma attack when they were young. They just didn’t tell anyone because it never happened again. Alois just had them into childhood. It _does_ run in the family; it was in both of their bloodlines.”

She didn’t understand why he was talking like he was neither of the brothers, but couldn’t help herself in asking, “So, Ciel was asthmatic too?” She wiped at the tears that were now running freely down her face.

“Apparently, we look more alike than we thought, especially after being gone for a month. No one could see which one had been half an inch taller because no one knew how tall we had been, how tall we had grown. No one can tell us apart. Not even Sebastian knows which one I really am, and he was there when the other _died_.” He told her, and she wiped more tears off her face.

“No one’s asked until now, so I’m not under the impression that anyone really wants to know. They wanted Ciel, so I’ll be Ciel.” He shrugged, leaning back in his seat. “Regardless, if I had called myself Alois I would have been locked away in that hospital a lot longer than a week, don’t you think? _Sickly little Alois,"_ He looked away, almost looking sad now. "I probably would have been confined to a house, too, if I was even allowed to leave the hospital. I probably wouldn’t have gotten control over the house, either. So, really, it’s good that Alois was the one to die, whether I’m him or not. It put him out of his poor coddled misery.”

“So- So you’re really not going to tell me which twin you are?” She asked, sniffling as she looked at him.

He turned his head away, “Where _is_ Sebastian with that tea? I’m starved.”

As if on queue, Sebastian walked through the door with the tea trolley. “Sorry to keep you waiting, my lord. My lady.” He set the tea out in front of them, passing Elizabeth a napkin when he saw her face. She took it graciously.

He announced the tea and the breakfast he served before bowing and excusing himself to his morning duties.

Ciel sipped at his tea, Elizabeth doing the same, though she kept her eyes on him.

It was quiet throughout the meal, Ciel not in the mood for idle chitchat, and Elizabeth not knowing what to say after their earlier conversation.

When the meal was finished she watched him get up.

“If you’ll excuse me, Elizabeth, I have a lot of work to catch up on.” He headed towards the door without another word and Elizabeth panicked, shooting off her seat and running for him.

Just as his hand reached the handle she grabbed his opposite wrist, turning him around and throwing her arms around him.

“I don’t care.” She told him through her tears, squeezing him tighter when she felt him freeze. “I don’t care which one you are, I really, truly don’t. I’m still just so happy that one of you _did_ come back.” She pulled back to see his startled expression. “Ciel or Alois, you were still one of my best friends and I missed you so, _so_ much that month you were gone. I thought you were dead and I could barely stand the thought of never seeing you two again.”

She brought a hand up to cup the side of his face, while the other still held his wrist. She leant forwards until their foreheads were touching, and smiled lovingly at him, tears still shining in her eyes. His eyes were staring up at hers, still looking wide with surprise.

“I simply don’t care. I loved the both of you so much, so, regardless of which you are, please, just always remember that I love _you_.”

“Me?” He asked, almost disbelieving.

“Three years, Ciel. Three years and my love has only grown, so it’s not your name, or the arranged marriage, or what I knew from when we were children, I love _you._ So, if you don’t want to tell me, or anyone else, I don’t care. I’ll continue loving _you_ , regardless of _anything_.”

**Author's Note:**

> I really like this theory, it just makes a lot of sense, especially with the Book of Circus flashbacks, and Ciel's breakdown in the Emerald Witch arc. 
> 
> Also, I chose Alois, just because the anime character's not in the Manga anyway and I like his name.


End file.
